Dispatched on June 10 at 1:46 p.m. to the scene of a possible homicide at 52 Laurel Hill Ave., Norwich police officer Daniel Collins entered an unlocked apartment and found a man lying on his back, cold to the touch, in pooled blood that originated from the left side of his body.

There were two spent shell casings near the body.

Detective Dennis Bialowas arrived a short time later and recognized the victim, 66-year-old Edward "Too Tall" McIntyre from previous narcotics investigations.

An arrest warrant affidavit unsealed Monday in New London Superior Court describes how police used witness interviews, cellphone records, ballistics and DNA testing to build a case against McIntyre's accused killer, Kendon A. Cole III, 27.

The warrant application, written by Detective Christopher R. Chastang, indicates Cole and McIntyre were involved in the crack cocaine business and Cole was interested in renting a room from McIntyre, who lived on the second floor of a five-family apartment building.

According to public records, Cole, known as "G-Man" or "G-Baby," had recently finished a 10-year prison stint in Georgia for armed robbery, obstructing a law enforcement officer, hijacking a motor vehicle and leaving the scene of an accident where someone was injured.

In the Norwich case, he is charged with murder, felony murder, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary and criminal possession of a firearm. He is being held in lieu of $2.15 million at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center. He has not yet entered a plea in New London Superior Court, where his next appearance is scheduled for Dec. 11.

According to the affidavit, "Witness 1," a neighbor who checked on McIntyre after hearing "loud bangs" and "muffled noises" from his apartment overnight found McIntyre's body and called police. The woman said she and another woman, "Witness 4," had been smoking crack with McIntyre the previous afternoon when Cole, whom she knew as "G-Man," came by the apartment, and that McIntyre paid Cole $40 for a previous drug deal. She said the two men spoke about Cole renting a room in the apartment. She said Cole was McIntyre's drug dealer, and that McIntyre cooked Cole's crack cocaine for him. She said after Cole left the apartment, McIntyre stated, "That was weird," and wrote something in a notebook.

Witness 4, a 21-year-old woman, was with McIntyre when the shooting occurred. She said McIntyre received a phone call at 12:30 a.m. about the room for rent. She said at about 2 a.m., two men came to the back door, one of whom she recognized as a man who had been interested in renting the apartment. She said the man began fighting with McIntyre as soon as he locked the door. She said a second man, dressed in black clothing and mask, entered with a gun and shot McIntyre. She told police the shooter fired at her as she fled but was not hit.

Two days later, after obtaining a search warrant, police tracked the victim's pinging cellphone to a 2020 Nissan Altima and conducted a felony stop as the car headed from New London. Cole was in the car with Jackie Helligar, 44, who told police she worked as an escort and Cole usually accompanied her when she met clients. She denied having information about the homicide.

After obtaining search warrants, police found the victim's cellphone in Cole's car along with 33 baggies of suspected fentanyl. The next day, while securing the rear of Cole's residence on Sylvester Street until a search warrant could be obtained, Officer Brandon Wisniewski spotted a Springfield Armory .45-caliber handgun lying in the brush.

Initially arrested on narcotics charges, Cole was charged with McIntyre's murder after forensic tests on several recovered items linked him to the crime. The tests showed the shell casings recovered at the scene, and projectiles removed from the victim's body during an autopsy had been fired from the recovered handgun. Tests also showed Cole's DNA was on the grip and trigger of the handgun, according to the affidavit.

Helligar was charged with possession and sale of narcotics and is being held in lieu of $100,000 at the Janet S. York Correctional Institution.

Police used an FBI analyst to extract information from Cole and Helligar's phones. A month before the shooting, police said Cole texted Helligar that he had paid somebody for a room, and the person had denied him the room and told Cole he was keeping the deposit to cover the cost of a background check.

"Ima get it back doh I ain't trippin," he continued in the text.

k.florin@theday.com